Random
(disjointed?) thoughts...
10/23/07
As I am watching Anderson Cooper's Endangered Planet on CNN I feel really sad that this world is being destroyed by inches by way of global warming, species extinction and man made toxins in our environment among other things. I think to myself what can one person do to help stop this? I don't know. What are the mega-billionaires doing to help out?
I wish I were a writer so I could put to words the emotions I feel right now. But I'll give it a try.
Should we congratulate ourselves for doing the things we do or are we just fooling ourselves that we're better than the next guy?
We have a compost bin, recycle paper, aluminum and plastic so for the two of us we put less than one 13 gallon garbage bag out each week. We have replaced almost all of our light bulbs with compact florescent ones. We went with the heat pump and 95+% efficient furnace and haven't paid much of anything in gas bills since February.
Is that anywhere enough? I don't know. What about you?
Right now I'm lobbying my to my husband to go for a heat pump heating and cooling system and photo voltaic shingles for the roof.
Update 03/28/07: We have replaced our furnace, air conditioner and water heater with the latest and greatest eco-friendly units! We went with a 95% efficient, two stage DC fan, furnace, a water heater that although is twice as big as the old one, uses less than half of the electricity of the old one, and a heat pump.
I'm sorry Patty, I know Toby was not impressed with them but the technology has vastly improved since our beloved Unka Toby passed.
| Earth 911 | Back yard wildlife Habitat | A good video about our water. |
| National Wildlife Federation | Clean Air - Cool Planet | |
| CBS News | ||
An Inconvenient Truth ClimateCrisis.net "How
the movie An Inconvenient Truth was offset: With NativeEnergy, Participant Productions and Paramount Pictures Classics offset 100% of the CO2 pollution from air and ground travel, production energy use, and waste associated with the making of An Inconvenient Truth. Participant Productions and Paramount Pictures Classics made the film climate neutral and are helping build the Rosebud St. Francis wind farm in South Dakota and the Dovan family dairy farm methane renewable energy project in Pennsylvania. You
too, can offset the CO2 from your daily actions, such as travel,
commuting and heating & powering your home with NativeEnergy." |
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| Here are some links to the different local news shows that have eco related videos. | ||
WCCO
Channel 4 |
KARE
Channel 11 |
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| Good Question: Why Is It Cold If Globe Is Warmer? | Solar energy, just waiting to be tapped. | |
Interview with Dave Mizejewski
Dave Mizejewski is a host on Animal Planet's Backyard Habitat.
Quote: "In addition to hosting Animal Planet's BACKYARD HABITAT, Mizejewski manages the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat™ program, which for more than 30 years has inspired people to make a home for wildlife right outside their back door. David is the author of the award-winning book Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard Wildlife, published in 2004 by Creative Homeowner." |
Note: The size of this video is 9 MB and may require special software (e.g., Windows Media Player) to be installed on your computer. If you have difficulties opening, right click on the link, save the file to your computer, then open the file. This is a .wmv file
Report
says mercury is affecting more birds, reptiles and animals
These are links to articles about the U.N. report on global warming.
| BBC | Bloomberg | National Geographic |
| Earth Times | Free Internet Press | Business Week |
| Houston Chronicle |